A Stint at Badiang Spring

The road leading to Badiang Spring from our home in Talibon

Summer went relatively fast and it is school time again. My second child, Renan, is leaving today for Iligan City where he is pursuing his collegiate studies at the Iligan Medical Center College. The school is only a short walk away from his grandmother’s house so we opted that he study there rather than pay for board and lodging elsewhere.

The night before, the kids clamored for a swimming spree before Nanan (Renan’s nickname) would leave for Iligan. So we decided to take a dip at Badiang Spring in Valencia, two towns away from Jagna where Nanan’s boat would leave for Cagayan de Oro at 4 p.m. yet.

After attending an early morning Mass at the San Agustin Quasi-Parish chapel, everybody busied themselves in loading Nanan’s things to our ride and of course, not forgetting our “baon” for the trip with chips and crackers ever present. Haaay. . . junk foods are never absent. They are picnic favorites!

We passed by the town of Trinidad. . .

Travelling leisurely for two hours straight from our home in San Agustin, Talibon, we passed by the towns of Trinidad, Ubay, Alicia, Candijay, Guindulman, Duero and stopped for a short while at Jagna to buy fresh fish for kinilaw . . . and then onwards to Garcia-Hernandez, Valencia and finally at the Badiang Spring Resort!

My son Renan . . .

The last time we were at this resort, it was not yet fully developed. Now, it is fenced in, has stone steps leading to the pool and falls plus more cottages now grace the ground surrounding the pool. The trees have grown and their branches stretch out and give shade to the cottages and add to the cool ambiance of the place.

with my kids under the waterfalls. . .

Brrrrrrrrrrr . . . the water is icy cold, as it is always is, yet the kids do not mind! They went straight to the pool. Later, I went with them to the waterfalls and enjoyed a massage as the water battered our heads and backs. Not contented, the kids went to the tributary to the pool and played with the flowing water there.

Then we had lunch. We enjoyed our fare of adobong manok and kinilaw and gulped down glasses of ice cold coke! Wow! That was great! Yet the kids were not contented. They are never full enough. I saw them again feasting on the chips!

In and between swimming and eating, they are forever posing! My kids are practicing models! I have to tell them time and time again to take pictures of the place and not of themselves.

the boys with their father. . .

Well, time does not stand still. A few minutes more and we have to leave for Jagna to be at the pier two hours before the boat’s departure. On board our ride, everybody was quiet. The imminent separation was in everybody’s mind. We are a closely knit family and separation from each other, ‘though for a short while, is always painful.

Yet life goes on. As parents, we have to give our kids room to grow. We cannot forever keep them under our wings. They have to take the first steps, test their wings. . . and fly! So be it, Lord!

More pictures. . .

Badiang Spring

Badiang Spring Resort